PROTECT 911 Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
The PROTECT 911 Act treats 911 public safety telecommunicators as a workforce with job-specific trauma and mental-health needs. It directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop and publicly update evidence-based best practices for identifying, preventing, and treating PTSD and co-occurring disorders in public safety telecommunicators. HHS must also publish resources for mental health professionals about emergency communications center culture, telecommunicator stressors, retired telecommunicator challenges, and evidence-based therapies. The bill then adds a Public Health Service Act grant program for state, local, and regional emergency communications centers and expert nonprofits to establish or enhance behavioral health, wellness, peer-support, training, and information programs.
Who Benefits and How
Public safety telecommunicators benefit from evidence-based PTSD and co-occurring disorder guidance tailored to 911 call-taking and dispatch work. Emergency communications centers benefit from grants to create behavioral health, wellness, peer-support, training, and awareness programs. Mental health professionals serving 911 workers benefit from resources explaining emergency communications center culture and stressors. Retired public safety telecommunicators benefit because HHS resources must address challenges faced after leaving the job.
Who Bears the Burden and How
HHS grant administrators must create best practices, consult experts, publish resources, reassess guidance, and run the new grant program. Emergency communications centers receiving grants must operate evidence-based wellness or peer-support programs and disseminate materials. State and regional 911 authorities must coordinate applications and program delivery if they seek grants. Federal taxpayers bear the cost of new behavioral health grant awards.
Key Provisions
- Requires HHS to develop and update evidence-based best practices for PTSD and co-occurring disorders in public safety telecommunicators.
- Requires resources to educate mental health professionals about 911 center culture, stressors, retiree challenges, and therapies.
- Creates grants for state, local, and regional emergency communications centers to establish behavioral health and wellness programs.
- Authorizes grant funds for peer support, instructors, training materials, and dissemination of evidence-based wellness information.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Directs HHS to publish best practices and mental-health resources for public safety telecommunicators and creates grants for emergency communications center behavioral health and wellness programs.
Key Policy Areas
Public Safety, Mental Health, Telecommunications
Primary Purpose
Directs HHS to publish best practices and mental-health resources for public safety telecommunicators and creates grants for emergency communications center behavioral health and wellness programs.
Policy Domains
Resolution provisions
Identified Gains
- Public safety telecommunicators
- Emergency communications centers
- Mental health professionals serving 911 workers
- Retired public safety telecommunicators
Identified Costs
- HHS grant administrators
- Emergency communications centers receiving grants
- State 911 authorities
- Regional 911 authorities
- Federal taxpayers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMs. Kelly of Illinois (for herself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mrs. Torres …
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Emergency communications centers, Public safety telecommunicators
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology